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𝐈'𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬, '𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫...
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❥ 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳: 𝘕𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭
❥ 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴: 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦
❥ 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘺: 𝘍𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧
❥ 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦: 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘈𝘜
❥ 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭
❥ 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 1758
╰──➤ 𝙑𝘼𝙇𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙀𝙎 𝙍𝙊𝙎𝙀
"loves me, loves me not. loves me, loves me not. loves me, loves me not. damn it..."
with all the rose petals on the ground, in front of you, you sighed and dropped the stem. you'd never been particularly romantic, but you were trying to decide whether to confess to your crush or not. you had invited them to the park by your house so you could, but you started to second guess your choice.
"hey, y/n," they greeted, standing beside the bench you were sitting on.
you were startled by their sudden appearance, but you put on a smile, "hey!"
before you could say anything else, they spoke again.
"...i thought i should tell you this in person, which is why i decided to come... y/n, if this is a confession, i'll have to politely decline. i like someone else."
"i-"
you weren't sure what to say. on one hand, you were upset and saddened by this information, but it was also somewhat rude to assume what you asked them there for when you hadn't even said anything. then again, it was valentines day, so you couldn't blame them. they were right, after all.
"i see..." you nodded. "thank you for telling me in person, at least."
you did your best to keep on a smile, though your head was spinning from how quickly everything was happening. without another word, they turned around and began walking away. they really didn't have anything else to say? wow.
"well that went great..." you mumbled, glancing back down to the rose fragments at your feet. "should've listened to the flower."
meanwhile, gorou watched from afar. he couldn't help but overhear your conversation with his enhanced hearing, and the fact that it was you made him want to stay and check if you were alright. he took a deep breath and carefully walked over, hoping it was the right decision to approach you.
"um, y/n...?" he said quietly, in the softest voice he could muster.
"hm?" you lifted your head and saw him. "oh, gorou! hi."
he was a bit depressed that you were faking a smile, and it showed with his ears and tail drooping. you blinked in response to it. it was cute, but you wondered why he was upset.
"what's wrong?" you asked.
"uh, well, i saw what happened just now..." he said hesitantly.
you were suddenly much more embarrassed, knowing that he saw you getting rejected, "o-oh, you did! well, you don't need to worry about me, i'm fine, hah..."
"i don't mean to be rude, y/n, but it's clear that you're not..." he responded. "it's okay to admit it, y'know?"
"ah, i'm not convincing you, am i?" you sighed, to which he shook his head.
he came up with an idea, but he was unsure if he wanted to share it with you or not. maybe you were just waiting for him to leave you alone so you could be unbothered. he didn't know, but he chose to take a chance since he wanted to make you feel better.
"um, if you want, i could take you somewhere?" he offered. "to get your mind off it?"
your face brightened up, "really? where?"
"wherever you want!" he smiled, his tail wagging behind him.
"hm..." you hummed. "how about yae publishing house? i've been hoping to go there for a while."
gorou's ear twitched and he was nervous at the mention of yae's workplace, but he decided he'd be generous, so he agreed.
on the walk through the city, he observed your movements closely. you walked as you normally did at school, full of pep. if he hadn't seen you get rejected, he would've never suspected anything was wrong. your eyes were like a reflection of the sun, glowing brightly to compliment the rest of your features. you seemed perfectly happy, and gorou wondered how many other times there were when you hid your true feelings from everyone. you looked over and once he realized he was staring, he quickly turned away.
"sorry, i didn't mean to stare...!" he apologized.
you chuckled, "it's fine, don't worry about it. i must be quite breathtaking."
of course, you were joking, but it was true.
you have no idea... he thought.
━✿━
"here's the book i've been looking for!" you gasped, picking it off the shelf. "a legend of sword!"
"you enjoy those types of books?" gorou queried.
"yeah! is that weird?"
he momentarily panicked, "no, no! not at all, i think it's... cool..."
in all honesty, he thought everything you did was cool.
you smiled and went over to pay for it. yae miko was at the counter, giving gorou the terrifying glare she always had as he stood behind you. you glanced between them, curious what was going on, as you put the mora on the counter. you noticed gorou's tail was stiff, as if he was afraid to move. you almost laughed because of it, but you were glad you knew someone who was so honest with their feelings. well, he wouldn't have much of a choice anyway.
"c'mon, let's go," you said, stepping over to the front door. "...gorou?"
"ah, yeah! coming!" he yelped, rushing after you as you left the building.
he promptly realized that he hadn't paid for you, even though he planned to. he was so distracted by yae that it completely slipped his mind, so he hastily reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a bag of mora.
"how much was it?" he asked, causing you to raise your eyebrows from surprise.
"1,500... but you don't have to give me anything, i wasn't expecting you to pay-"
"i insist!" he replied, picking out the correct amount from the bag and handing it out to you. "what would be the point of me taking you somewhere if i didn't even treat you? i meant to give you money to begin with, but i got a little... distracted."
"i could tell," you laughed as you accepted the payment. "thank you, gorou."
"it's nothing!"
he was clearly happy, as his tail swished around and his ears twitched. it was cute, and looking at him, you almost forgot about the cold rejection you faced earlier.
"so..." you began. "have you gotten any confessions today?"
"oh, no..." he answered. "i don't usually get that kind of stuff on valentines day. or any other day, really."
"you don't sound too bothered by it."
"i'm not," he shrugged. "i think it would probably be worse if everyone was confessing to me. it would be overwhelming..."
you beamed, "i get what you mean. i don't think i've ever gotten chocolates from someone who wasn't my friend."
his head perked up at your comment, "really? i thought everyone would be all over you today..."
"nope! but what would be the point, right? i'd have to reject them anyway. all i really wanted was the attention of the person i liked."
"mm... i'm sorry that didn't work out," he said, looking down at his feet as he sauntered beside you on the sidewalk.
"it happens," you stated. "oh, a bakery! do you like pastries and stuff?"
"uh... well, i like cake."
"then i can get you something to repay you, if you want!"
"oh, you don't have to," he replied. "i'm totally fine!"
"hm~? but your tail says otherwise," you smirked.
he turned his head to see his tail wagging furiously and blushed from embarrassment, grabbing it to make it stop.
"c'mon, let's see what they have," you grinned, opening the door.
he followed you inside and stared in awe at the fancy interior. everything seemed pristine and perfectly cleaned. he was sure all the food must've been expensive, so he attempted to persuade you out of staying.
"everything in here must be more expensive than the book, it wouldn't be very fair if you paid way more than me," he whispered in your ear, intimidated by the amount of people in the room.
"y'know, if you don't want me to treat you, you can say so. but if you're really worried about that, you can pay a fraction of the bill," you pointed out. "we also don't have to stay here if you don't like the people, i can order something to-go."
"um, okay then..."
he decided on what he wanted, so while you spoke to the person at the counter to order, he observed the environment. it was a cozy place, ignoring all the people. it was also warm, which was good since the outdoors were especially cold that day.
after a while of waiting, you were given a bag with the slice of cake you got for him and he gave you a portion of money to cover a third of the price. you paid the rest and led him outside, holding his hand in the process. he could feel heat rushing to his face, despite the cool breeze brushing past him.
"say, does this count as a date?" you suddenly asked, sitting down on a nearby bench in the grass.
"um, only if you want it to, i guess!" gorou said, sitting beside you.
you handed him the bag and smiled again, metaphorically setting him on fire, "it's a date, then!"
with a red face, he opened the packaging and began eating. you chuckled at his flustered face. a part of you wanted to see it more. you shivered from the cold and you wished you brought a heavier jacket. gorou, thankfully, noticed your discomfort.
"you can take my jacket, if you'd like-"
"oh, no, i wouldn't want to leave you freezing," you interrupted quickly. "but could i... rest my head on your shoulder? i'm kinda tired."
he was so amazed that part of him thought his ears were playing tricks on him. did you actually ask that? he didn't want to stay silent for too long, so he nodded frantically. in response, you leaned over and placed your head on his shoulder, which resulted in your body being closer to his.
"how are you so warm...?" you mumbled.
his face flared up again, "u-uh, i'm not sure!"
"hm... i wish i talked to you more in class. you're cute," you whispered, closing your eyes.
"t-thank you," he stammered quietly.
he continued eating, very conscious of your body up against his. he was happy you seemed to enjoy his company. he'd been admiring you for so long, though he never had the courage to approach you. he did feel bad about your rejection, but at least it ended in something good, right?
he finally got to be close with his crush!